ST. GEORGE, Utah — The power to withstand the encroaching pressure of the world comes by living true to the divinity within, President Gordon B. Hinckley told members of nine stakes during a regional conference in St. George, Nov. 24.
"We can never do a cheap or shoddy or a mean or tawdry thing if we carry in our hearts a conviction that we have divinity within our lives, that we are sons and daughters of an eternal Father . . . whose consuming desire is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man," he said.
President Hinckley spoke to 6,200 members gathered in the Burns Arena on the campus of Dixie State College and the adjoining Cox Auditorium. Proceedings were broadcast also to each of the nine stake centers where another 11,300 were gathered. The nine stakes comprise one of two regions in an area of 22 stakes.
Building upon the theme of his recent general conference address, President Hinckley admonished members "to live up the divinity that is within you."
"Life is a mission and a not career," he said. "It is a great eternal journey that leads onward and upward to good and wonderful things. We live in a world of good and evil . . . a world of choices. God designed it so."
After speaking of the Plan of Salvation, President Hinckley said, "We have such a tremendous challenge. The world pushes against us. We, somehow, must hold back the world, and look to God in righteousness."
President Hinckley challenged the youth, "to live worthy of their divine inheritance. You have an obligation. You have a responsibility. You have a divine birthright. You cannot escape it. It's yours.
"Don't squander the goodness God has blessed you with," he said. "Don't step down to the cheap and nasty things of life. . . . Keep yourselves descent and clean and beautiful and strong and faithful."
President Hinckley spoke of the opportunity of fathers and mothers to gather their children in family home evening. He recounted home evening in his parents' home after President Joseph F. Smith announced the program in 1915.
"We felt awkward," he said. "We tried to sing and couldn't sing. We laughed at one another. It was crazy. But out of it came something. We read the scriptures. We talked together about the things of life. My father was a wonderful teacher. My mother was a wonderful teacher. We gained so much. I cannot look back without expressing the deepest gratitude for what they did for us."
He called on members to "come back to that tradition" of family home evening. "We've let it slip from us. We've let others preempt that Monday night.
"Blessings will flow from it, immeasurable and wonderful and sweet to contemplate," he said.
Counseling fathers, President Hinckley told priesthood holders "how presumptive it would be to [speak in the Lord's name] in unrighteousness, when your life isn't in harmony with the things of the Lord."
He told of a man who was reflecting on his life, feeling the weight of his deeds, as he wondered if he were worthy to speak in the name of the Lord in behalf of his dying son.
He admonished the women to treasure their role as mothers and nurture their children.
"Be active in the Relief Society," he counseled. "Lend your strength to that great and marvelous organization."
President Hinckley then asked the congregation pointedly, "What have you done to bring friendship and understanding and a welcome spirit to those who come into the Church as converts?
"If that's to happen, you and I are to make this happen," he said.
Remembering that the first temple built after the pioneers arrived in Utah was dedicated in St. George, President Hinckley said, "There has been laid upon us . . . a responsibility never before given to anyone upon the earth.
"It requires unselfishness of a consummate kind to go to the House of the Lord in behalf of someone you've never met and never known.
"I make you a promise; every time you go to the temple you will leave a better man or woman.
President Hinckley opened his remarks by inviting his wife, Marjorie, to stand with him at the lectern. He spoke of their happy marriage and told how she celebrated her 91st birthday on the day prior to the conference.
Other speakers during the conference included Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the Quorum of the Twelve who spoke of being emancipated "from those things that hold us back on the journey of discipleship."
"This is the great discovery of life," he said. "We mustn't grow weary. The remedy is to be nurtured by the gospel. We never reach the end of [the gospel]. It expands like the universe."
Elder Ned B. Roueche of the Seventy and counselor in the Utah South Area presidency also spoke. He counseled members to watch for those distractions that divert attention from eternal purposes.
E-mail: shaun@desnews.com
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